In a comprehensive protest against the bank, shareholders also voted down its regular remuneration report, which needed 75 per cent in favour to make it across the line. It received support from 61 per cent, representing its first shareholder “strike” at ANZ since 2018.
Chairman Paul O’Sullivan was keen to highlight the bank’s achievements, but he acknowledged that they were overshadowed by issues relating to the management of non-financial risks. Had ANZ not announced the retirement and replacement of Elliott last week, the mood of the room would have arguably been worse. It could have been populated by shareholders with pikes looking for a head.
Sure, all banks will probably endure protests on their funding of fossil fuels and other hot-button issues, but the list of grievances from ANZ shareholders, big and small, is on another level.
They are particularly unhappy about the way ANZ has handled the No.1 issue before it – the bond-trading scandal – which is now the subject of a regulatory investigation.
Joe Longo, chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, told a parliamentary joint committee in Sydney last month that the high-profile investigation into ANZ’s role in a $14 billion government-bond sale had been expanded to include misreporting of data.
Outgoing ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott.Credit: Pat Scala
He said the investigation into the alleged market manipulation by ANZ’s bond traders is of the “highest priority” for the regulator, referring to the seriousness of the misconduct and the potential cost to taxpayers if borrowing costs had been forced higher.
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In August, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority was due to review a $500 million capital add-on it imposed on ANZ and other big lenders in 2019 during a crackdown on industry misconduct. But instead, it raised ANZ’s requirement by $250 million, citing concerns about the bank’s risk-culture management.
A series of reviews and investigations are under way by the bank, but the litany of problems has understandably got investors fired up. Even the announcement of a new chief executive – the Portuguese-born former HSBC executive Nuno Matos – has not been sufficient to quell the discontent.
Elliott made good strides in cleaning up a messy structure and focusing on core operations during his tenure at ANZ. But recent events have overshadowed these successes.
The 2024 annual general meeting is one that O’Sullivan and Elliott would probably rather forget. And the pressure will be on ANZ’s board and the new boss, Matos, to avoid a repeat next year.
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